I’m Chris and I’m daddy to Izzy (6); Tom (4); Osian (1) and husband to Nia. We’re expecting our fourth (yes we’re mad!) baby in January 2020 and so you could certainly say there isn’t a quiet second in our house!!
Nia and I co-own Wade Therapy Services under which both Cardiff Speech Therapy and Nia’s share (with her sister Siobhan) of her Hypnobirthing service, The Calm Birthing Company, fall under.
I’ve been a Speech & Language Therapist since qualifying 2007 and have really enjoyed the vast range of roles I have taken on from spending 5 years across several NHS trusts from Newly Qualified Therapist to a senior management role; to setting up and growing a large independent service. Reluctantly, due to my growing family, I have travelled extensively as an Independent Speech Therapist to the likes of Goa; Moscow; Oman; Abu Dhabi; Dubai; Switzerland and Nigeria.
The common theme across all of my travels have been my passion, erm OBSESSION, with working with families of children and adolescents with Autism. Prior to training as a Speech & Language Therapist I worked as a Support Worker for adolescents and adults with Autism and I guess my interest sparked from there. I have zero inhibitions when it comes to direct speech and language therapy and as such I am more than happy to engage with children with Autism no matter what motivates them and I find that I can create trust (the foundations of effective therapy) relatively easily.
Throughout my professional career I have been funded by the NHS and funded myself to attend the gold standard therapeutic approaches and assessments for both the intervention and (team) diagnosis of children and adolescents with Autism. Once I have new knowledge / training I then hone in on my ADHD and obsess about the finer details of said training and embed it into my own battery of therapeutic approaches for children with ASD.
Outside of direct private speech and language therapy I am commissioned by both families; local authorities and Solicitors to thoroughly assess children and adolescents and provide reports with clear recommendations that contribute towards the Working Documents of Statements of Educational Needs (SEN) or Education; Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). I also act as an Expert Witness in Speech & Language Therapy and regularly attend SEN Tribunals to present my evidence and recommendations. So far, after at least 7 years of doing so, I have a 100% track record in securing my SLT recommendations!
In this blog I plan to share the typical Speech, Language and Communication development of my children (with the understanding that to understand what is ‘atypical’ development we must first know what is ‘typical’ development) and also describe therapeutic case studies or children I have or am currently working with.
Please do feel free to comment and challenge each and everything I write / share!
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